This Week in Weird, Feb. 20

Friday

NATICK, Mass. -- Instead of getting a coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, police say, a customer got his four tires slashed by an angry clerk.

The coffee shop clerk, Thomas J. Zazulak, 39, was arrested after he slashed four tires on a Jeep Wrangler at the Dunkin' Donuts on Tuesday, Lt. Brian Grassey said.

The victim, whom police did not name, had ordered coffee but felt Zazulak was taking too long and decided to leave, which sparked an argument between the pair.

"There was a long line, and after waiting in line, (the victim), ordered a coffee," Grassey said. "He felt it had taken the clerk a substantial amount of time to prepare it, so he decided he had waited long enough and left. The clerk took exception. Words were exchanged. (Zazulak) followed him outside, and continued with the disagreement."

Zazulak was the only one working at the time, and other customers remained in line while the employee continued arguing with the unhappy customer.

The argument took a turn when Zazulak took a large folding knife from his back pocket, Grassey said.

"He slashed all four of the tires," the lieutenant said. "He slashed the tires on the left side of the Jeep, then he went around slashed the tires on the right side. He put the knife back in his pocket, walked away and continued to serve customers."

When police arrived, several witnesses, including children, confirmed the customer's story. Zazulak was arrested.

Missouri Humane Society seizes 209 dogs, tiger from kennel

SENECA, Mo. -- The Humane Society of Missouri seized 209 dogs, one housecat and one tiger Thursday from JB’s Precious Puppies. The agency was operating on a search warrant from Newton County Sheriff’s Department.

“Part of it of course is that we want to rescue these animals and get them in a better environment, where we can tend to their medical and other needs,” said Debbie Hill, vice president of operations of the humane society. “The other part of that is these animals are actually live evidence in a potential criminal case. And that is something that we can assist law enforcement with, because we have staff that can examine the animals.

"We will have to shave these animals down, because a lot of time you will find wounds under the matted hair and different things and the way that they have been kept. And also kind of see where what their medical status is. A lot of times you will find infections that have been long left untreated, and that causes additional damage, all of those kind of things. That is actually part of the evidence gathering process for their potential criminal case.”

The owner of the business, Jewel Bond, said, “I think that this is a dirty deal, that is what I think, because I have nothing but problems here for the last two years. This started out two years ago. My hairdresser stole puppies and just made a big scene here and it has been a mess. I have been sick. I have raised dogs here for over 30 years. And I love raising the dogs.”

Burglar takes hams from garage

PEORIA, Ill. -- A burglar damaged the garage of James S. Lunsford in order to steal meat from a freezer, the second such incident in a month, police said.

A crowbar was used to pry open the bottom panel of the unattached garage door. Two turkeys and two hams were taken from a freezer in the garage.

Lunsford told police nothing else was taken, and that it was the second break-in to his garage within the past month.

In an unrelated incident, another resident in Peoria reported to police on Feb. 7 that someone broke into his house and took the time to cook a ham steak and eat it before leaving dirty utensils in the sink and fleeing.

GateHouse News Service

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